Two men allegedly pretended to be sheriff’s detectives in a scam that fleeced about $61,000 from two grieving families who had lost their sons.

Investigators said the suspects convinced a woman they could help with the unsolved slaying of her son, who was a military veteran.

The men also allegedly told a Long Beach couple they could dissuade authorities from filing charges against them for supposedly neglecting their son, who died of a heart attack.

Frank Kegel, 42, of Simi Valley and Martin Pelayo, 22, of Whittier allegedly targeted Spanish-speaking victims and met them at the Sheriff’s Training Academy and Regional Services Center in Whittier to bolster their bogus law enforcement personas.

Detective Dana Duncan of the sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau said the suspects would meet family members at the STARS center.

“As a fail-safe, they would (take) recruitment materials and walk around so even if they were stopped or questioned, they would say they were here to be deputies,” Duncan said.

Pelayo and Kegel are scheduled for a Sept. 18 trial at Norwalk Superior Court. They remain in custody; Pelayo at the Pitchess Detention Center North Facility in Castaic and Kegel at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.

Both were charged with conspiracy to defraud another of property, obtaining money by false pretenses, grand theft and unlawful use of a badge.

Prosecutors also filed two counts of burglary against Kegel. Pelayo is also facing four additional counts of unlawful use of a badge, one more count of grand theft, one count of obtaining money by false pretenses and two counts of burglary.

Pelayo was convicted of robbery in 2005 and first-degree robbery in 2003, according to the complaint.

The alleged scam occurred from Sept. 22, 2007 to Nov. 30, 2007.

A Long Beach couple, Benito Molina Benavidez and Rita Ramos Molina, were the first victims, officials said.

Their son, Jose Benavidez, died of a heart attack days after being released from a hospital, said Shiara M. Davila, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

“Pelayo tells the victims the authorities are thinking of filing charges against them for neglect because their 27-year-old son was alone,” Davila said. “Pelayo tells the victims since he is a detective, he can dissuade authorities from filing charges.”

She said the couple was shown a fake letter and told they were facing a $60,000 fine.

“Over the course of two months, the family paid him $21,000,” Davila said.

Duncan said Crisanta Calvillo was in a Long Beach cemetery on the one-year anniversary of the death of her son, Francisco, when she met a man who told her about a detective helping his family.

Deputies said Francisco Calvillo was stabbed Oct. 16, 2006 in the 10600 block of Pescadero Avenue in South Gate. He staggered to a neighbor’s home for help and was taken to a hospital, were he was pronounced dead.

There have been no arrests in the case.

Duncan said Pelayo knew these were immigrant families.

“I think he was taking advantage of their naivete. He convinced them it would take money to re-activate the case,” he said.

Kegel and Pelayo got $40,000 from the Calvillos, Davilla said.

Calvillo and Benavidez couldn’t be reached for comment. Michael Manuel, who represents Kegel, was on vacation. Christine Rodriguez, who is Pelayo’s attorney, didn’t return phone calls.

Ruby Gonzales started working for the company in 1991. Since then she has written about cities, school districts, crimes, cold cases, courts, the San Gabriel River, local history, anime, insects, forensics and the early days of the Internet when people still referred to it as the "information superhighway." Her current beat includes breaking news, crimes and courts for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star News and Whittier Daily News. When not in crime reporter mode, she frequents the remaining bookstores in the San Gabriel Valley, haunts craft stores or gets dragged to eateries by a relative who is a foodie.